December 3: Twenty-first State Joins Union

On 3 December 1818 Illinois became the 21st U.S. State. However it was actually on 18 April 1818 that President James Monroe signed the statehood enabling act that was adopted by congress. At the time, there was a federal requirement that a territory’s population had to be at least 60,000 before it could be granted statehood. The population of Illinois was around 40,000. However, a census was taken continually until the 60,000 figure was reached.

Upon becoming a state, the Illinois capital stayed at Kaskaskia. The government was headquartered in a small building rented by the state. In 1819 Vandalia became the capital. While it was the capital, three separate building were built to serve as the capitol building. Then in 1837, the capital was moved again to Springfield, where a fifth capitol building was made. A sixth building was made in 1867 which continues to serve as the capitol today.

The population of Illinois continued to grow. By the year 1860, the population had grown by 350 percent to a total of 1.7 million people. It is now the fifth most populated state in the U.S.

When Illinois was first starting to be settled, early U.S. settlement had begun in the southern part of the state and quickly moved north; driving out the native residents of the land as they did so. In 1832, some of the natives came back from Iowa but were driven out in the Black Hawk War.

–Shea Rhodes

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Meet the Author: Shea Rhodes

I am currently going to Schoolcraft College as a full-time student. As of now my plan is to transfer to Easter Michigan University and become a history teacher. When I am not at school I enjoy doing things with my friends such as playing video games.

17 Responses

  1. Ashley Warr says:

    The Black Hawk War took place in 1832 between the U.S. and the Native Americans. Originally black hawk had no intentions of using violence but when U.S. militia opened fire black hawks people fought back. Although the U.S militia did not have many well-trained soldiers they managed to defeat most of black hawks people and drive them back toward the Mississippi river. There on August 2, 1832 the rest of Hawks men were defeated although black hawk and a few others escaped they later surrendered. This war is also very well known because Abraham Lincoln served on the U.S. side.

  2. Bobby Casler says:

    A state joining the north meant there had to be thoughts involving slavery. Slavery was nominally banned by the Northwest Ordnance, but that was not enforced. But when Illinois became a sovereign state in 1818, the Ordnance no longer applied, and there were about 900 slaves there.

  3. Cameron White says:

    Also the twety first state takes it name from the Illinois Confederation; a group of Algonquian speaking tribes native to the area. In this sense, the word Illinois means “tribe of superior men.”

  4. Eden Gibbs says:

    The city of Chicago was founded in 1832. Within the next tens years, the population of Illinois almost quadrupled due to the massive growth of the city. Despite a fire in 1871 which destroyed much of the city’s business district, the population grew exponentially. The city provided a gateway between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi making Chicago and the state of Illinois a huge place for trading. The state soon became the center of trading for crops and manufacturing because its location between the Great Lakes and Mississippi.

  5. Evan DeFoe says:

    Since Illinois was the 21st state to join the US, that would make it the 8th state outside of the initial 13 colonies to enter statehood.

    The first state outside of the 13 colonies to join the US was Vermont on March 4, 1791. Initially, the land was claimed by: Massachusetts on the basis of the 1629 charter of the Massachusetts Bay Colony; New York based on land granted to the Duke of York (King James II) in 1664; and New Hampshire, who had yet to determine its western boundaries. King George II did establish Massachusetts’ common day boundaries, but disputes between New York and New Hampshire continued. Eventually, the inhabitants of Vermont decided instead of belonging to either state, they’d form their own independent country, called the Republic of Vermont, on January 15, 1777. By 1791, Vermont joined the Union as the fourteenth state.

  6. Cameron White says:

    Also the twety first state takes it name from the Illinois Confederation; a group of Algonquian speaking tribes native to the area. In this sense, the word Illinois means “tribe of superior men.” Also Ronald Reagan was the only president who was born in Chicago and prior to being elected he was the Governor of California and resided in Golden State. One thing that Ronald Reagan said that I thought would be a good business quote was, “Entrepreneurs and their small enterprises are responsible for almost all the economic growth in the United States.” Other than Reagan being born there and being elected as president, are president now, Barack Obama lived there before being elected.

    Just something to know: Abraham Lincoln’s Presidential Library is located in Springfield, Illinois.

  7. Taylor Joseph says:

    Illinois becoming a state in 1818 was not without controversy. Mississippi became a state in 1817 and Alabama was scheduled to follow in 1819. Both these states were slave states pushing Illinois into the free states column. The boundaries of Missouri were changed to reach a compromise to allow Illinois to become a free state from slavery. I find it interesting that there was so much controversy involved selected Illinois as the twenty-second state.

  8. Charlie Harrison says:

    Illinois has a lot of history and I am glad they are a part of our country! After doing research on the state of Illinois I discovered they have a lot of interesting facts. One that stood out to me the most was that in 1865, Illinois was the first state to ratify the 13th Amendment. The 13th Amendment was abolishing slavery and for a few reasons I was interested in that fact. For one, I am African-American so any history on slavery is interesting to me as I am learning more and more how we have gone from slavery to being free. Another reason that caught my eye was because I have a presentation on Slavery next week so it actually is very helpful information. A fun note: the Chicago Bears were once called the “Staley Bears” before becoming the Chicago Bears.

  9. Sara Papp says:

    Illinois was the 21st state but it is now the sixth most people filled state, the population is extremely high. The name “Illinois” came from a Native American word that means “tribe of superior men.”. Back in accent world the different countries or groups were divided differently for a long time,The Persian King Cyrus had a huge part in the division of the ancient world, He expand Persia. by conquering a lot of the ancient world.

  10. Sommer Guy says:

    It’s also interesting to not that Chicago was a major city for illinois, its location on Lake Michigan made it a prime place for trade and business with its access to all the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River.I was surprised at how many times the capital moved too.

  11. Gino Pasquali says:

    This was huge news for Illinois. It made their population grow tremendously, and then after this Chicago was eventually founded. The amazing city helped Illinois population grow and grow, it also made the state’s status grow higher as people wanted to see the city, just like tourist do to this day. I think it is crazy how Illinois is the 5th most populated state in America. That really tells you something about its history and cities.

  12. Chris Jones says:

    This was kinda cool to learn about because it shows that Illinois kept fighting to get that number to become a state. They had to deal with the government just like the 300 spartans. They kept fighting to get freedom and to become there own separate state, sort of speaking. http://europeanhistory.about.com/od/ancienteurope/a/histmyths2.htm

    This shows a little about the spartans and how they fought for there land just like Illinois did.

    • Chris Jones says:

      Finding out that Illinois was the first state to ratify the 13th amendment which abolished slavery. It was a new state which everyone knew at the time had a lot of slavery which was banned. The ordinance ended up failing and slavery with help in Illinois.

  13. jyoti kaur says:

    I have been to Chicago, IL many times. Next time I go, it will be nice knowing some background history while roaming the streets of Illinois. Illinois is connected to north of Lake Michigan, where it made it a hard task for the flow of westward-moving immigrants. Since it was granted state hood in 1818 the population started at 35,000 with a lot of unsettled land. The main reason Illinois was such a attraction to live there back then was because after farmers plowed through the hard farm they discovered that the soil was way more richer than the had expected. So Illinois is high in the farming department. I’ve only been to the city part of Illinois, but i will definitely check out the farming side.

  14. Raquel Murillo says:

    Its funny how we leave relatively so close to our country’s third largest city. Chicago is an awesome city to live in, though i’ve only been in the actual down town part, about three times. Another cool thing about ‘Chi Town’ is that they have a really big latino population. I feel very safe walking around Chicago, however like all major cities it does have it’s bad parts.
    Also Ive never been to Springfield. But ive heard talks in the past on the news about switching the capitol to Chicago. However this is a very unlikely and i dont think it will ever happen. Its also good to know that Illinois is the 5th largest state beating out Michigan who is currently ranked at number 8. I think the state itself has a lot of good history and other fun facts about it.I also believe it’d be a great place to live in.

  15. Jennifer Kuebler says:

    Hawaii was the last state to join the United States, which occurred on August 21, 1959. It is the only state to be entirely made up of islands. Hawaii was very “discovered” by English Captain James Cook in 1778. The natural resources in Hawaii like sugar and pineapple, make it extremely valuable. The soil, which is made from lava, is ideal for agriculture, which is the state’s main source of revenue. Hawaii was at first a monarchy and by 1875, King Kamahama II was threatened by outsiders, gave his kingdom to the United States. In 1887, the United States created a military base in Hawaii. In 1900, it was granted right to self governance, but remained U.S. territory. After the hit to Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 and World War II had ended, Hawaii citizens voted to become a state on June 27, 1959. Hawaii is a major tourist state for many Americans and foreign visitors.

  16. Nick Kalte says:

    The praries made it hard for immigration is Illinois. The population was actually about 35000 and the praries were mostly unsettled. A few farmers started plowing and realized that the soil in Illinois was very much richer than they had expected and a great area to farm at. The resources Illinois provided, made it a place that became heavily farmed and inhabited once word spread of the great land it had. By 1840 the population shifted north and Chicago was born. The rest of the land was inhabited by farmers who were determinaed to farm the great soil that the land provided.

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